Curtain stretcher and drier



NOV. 25% 1924- R. V. LYON CURTAIN STRETCHER AND DRIER Filed June 19. L920 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 oa m 1 MW Nov. 25, 1924- 1,516,611

R. V. LYON CURTAIN STRETGHER AND DRIER C Filed June 19, 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I- IllllllllfllllllllllllllllllllIlV v A TTO/YNEVS.

Patented Nov. 25, 1924.

PATET lC.

ROBERT VALENTINE LYON, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK, ASSIGNO'R TO THE AMERICAN LAUNDRY MACHINERY COMPANY, OF GINCINl. lA'II, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

CURTAIN STRETCI-IER AND DRIER.

To all whom. it may concern.

Be t known that I, ROBERT VALENTINE LYON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Curtain Stretchers and Driers, of which the following is a specilication.

This invention relates to improvements in apparatus for stretching and drying curtains.

The object of the invention is to provide a frame for stretching and drying lace curtains which have been hemmed for a hanging rod and more especially to provide means for stretching the lap formed by the hem so that this part of the curtain will he stretched and dried as efiiciently as the main body of the curtain. p

A further object of the, invention is to provide means for securely clamping in position the carding strip to which is attached the lap portion formed by the hem of the curtain.

This invention will be more fully under-' stood from the following description in connection with the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a 4 plan view of the. curtain stretcher showing my invention; Fig. 2 is "El vertical. longitudinal section of the stretching frame, the upper half of this view being taken in the plane of line o-a., Fig. 1, while the lower half is taken in the plane of line b, Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is aview showing a portion of the curtain having a hem and lap; i is a view showing in detail the means for locking the hem-rod in position; Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the clamping means for the carding ,stripto which the lap portion is secured; Fig. 6 is a side view of the clamp in position upon the flange of the frame; Fig. 7 is a vertical section of the clamp taken on line -c Figs. 6 and 9: Fig. 8 is a front elevation of the clamp; and Fig. 9 is a horizontal section of the clamp taken through line dd, Figs,,6, 7 and 8.

The frame 2 is pivoted at its two ends in the machine casing 1 so that. the frame can be swung in said casing for the purpose of exposing a curtain .on one side of the frame to the heated chamber contained within the machine casing, while a second curtain is being applied to the other side of the frame; t i to S y th f eer is divided into.

' of the sprocket chain 7.

Application filed June 19 1920. Serial No. 390,183.

two parts by means of the longitudinal part tion 2 duplicate mechanism being provided upon the two sides of this partition.

The general operation of my device is sub stantially the same as that already known in the art; that is to say, duplicate sets of carding strips are provided upon the opposite sides of the frame so that one ourtain can be attached to the stretching means while another curtain is being dried in the casing. By revolving the frame the first curtain can be brought to outside position for removal, while the second curtain can be moved to proper position within the casing for drying.

A stationary carding strip is provided at one end of the frame while adjustable carding strips 3 are provided to extend longitudinally of the frame. An adjustable carding strip indicated in a general way by ref erence number it, is also provided. The last named carding strip 4 is provided with a rod 16 which is passed through the hem of the curtain. The plain end of the curtain is secured to the stationary carding strip 5 and the sides of the curtain are secured to the carding strips 8 and 1 after they have been placed in proper distended position for stretching the curtain.

My improved attachment is used for stretching the lap portion 18 so that it will also be properly stretched for drying. Except for the attachment just referred to, the operation of the device as thus far eX- plained is substantially the same as already followed in the art.

The adjustable carding strips 3 are suitably mounted upon collars 21 and 27 which are adapted tomove along a shaft 22 carry ing gears which are employed for operation members, as for instance that one indicated at 27, is provided with a pin 2% for engagement with one stretch. of the sprocket chain 26, while the other collar member, indicated at 21, is provided with a similar pin for.- connection with the other stretch of the same sprocket chain 26,'from which it will be obvious that upon loosening the setscrevv 23 which is adapted to lock the carding strips in proper position, they can be moved toward and away from each other, as already known in the art, until they have assumed the pro-pe position for stretching of the. u ta n;

One of the collar at which point the set screw 23 is again tightened so as to hold the strips 3 in such position. Sprockets 25 and 25 are mounted upon shafts 17, 17 which have suitable bearing at the ends of the frame.

The adjustable carding strip 4 is mounted upon two brackets 6 which are adapted to have sliding engagement with the flanges 2 8 of the frame. The bolts and nuts 11 constitute means for securing the brackets 6 to the sprocket chain 7 so that these brackets carrying the carding strip 4 can be adjusted lengthwise of the frame and can be secured in proper adjusted position by any suitable means, as'for instance that shown in the Lyon Patent No. 1,285,274 of November 19, 1918, although in the present construction the same set screw 23 which looks the sleeves 21, 27 to the shaft 22 also locks the shaft 22 against turning and therefore secures the strip 4 in adjusted position. Ears 1 2 are provided upon the support for the adjustable carding strip 4 and receive through the apertures 13 the rod 16 which is adapted to pass through the hem 19 of the curtain.

The rod 16 is provided with .lugs 14 and 15, the lug 14 which is near the end of the rod 16 being short enough to pass through the keyhole slot formed in one of the ears 12. The lug 15, however, is too long to pass through such keyhole slot, so that upon passing :rod 16 through the hem of the curtain and first inserting the plain end of the rod through one of the ears 12 and then passing the end of the rod with the lug 14 through the keyhole slot 13, a locking means is provided upon turning the rod so as to move the lug 14 away from the open part of the keyhole slot.

Brackets -10 and 10 are provided inside of the frame forsupport of the shafts 22 which carry thegears for operation ,of. the

' sprocket chains 7 as clearly shown in Fig. 2.

My invention comprises also carding strips 36 and 36, bothof which are mounted in the same-manner. For instance strip 36 is detachably secured to the flange portions 28 of the frame for the purpose of stretching the lap portion 18 of the curtain. This strip can be placed at any desired point upon the frame. The carding strip itself, indicated at 36, is mounted in anysuitable ma'nne-r upon the baselstrip 34 which is riveted at its two end portions to brackets-33. These brackets have depending ears 32 between which are pivoted the adjustable clamping members 30 at the points 31. The clamping jaws 30 co-operate with the upper jaws 29 to grip the flanges-28 of the frame. Thumb screws 39 extend through thethreaded portions 37 of the clamping members and are so arranged that their lower end portions 38 strike the faces .of the clamping jaws 30 on one side of the pivot points 31. The resultof this arrangement, as will be fully seen from Fig. 6, is that by manipulation of the thumb screws 39 that portion of the clamping jaw 30 directly under the jaw 29 will in each case be brought into contact with the flange portion 28 which will thus be securely clamped between the jaws. Lock nuts 40 are also provided as a means for locking the thumb screws 39 in clamping position. it flange portion 35 is provided upon the base strip 34 as a means for lining up the edge of the curtain. Thus the strip for the hem can be secured at the proper point, according to the length of the lap, and the lap is stretched in extended rela tion with respect to the main body of the curtain.

t is to be understood that the cardin .strips used in my present inventionconsist of a fabric or other suitable base material wit-h a large number of fine points woven therein and projecting from its upper surface. These points or pins are very closely spaced and extend at a slight angle to the surface of the base, the pins or points on each bar being inclined outwardly from the middle of the frame. This will be seen from the several figures of the drawing, especially Fig. 5. As will be seen also from the drawing, angle irons are provided around the open sides of the frame as well as around the middle portion thereof where the partition 2 is provided. The marginal portions of the open sides of the frame are bent about the angle irons as clearly shown in the figures of the drawing.

Any suitable means may be employed for turning the frame on its longitudinal axis in the drying casing,su'ch means being old in the art, as shown for instance in the patent to Prestwich, et al., November 19, 1918, 1,285,373. I

Thus itwill be seen that upon securing the marginal portions of the curtain to the carding strips 3 and 5 and securing the hem to the strip 4, as already explained, accord- ,ing to my invention it is possible to then secure theedge of the lap portion so that it too will be properly stretchedfor drying. In this way I avoid the objectionable wrinkling and shrinking of "the lap portion. in the drying of hemmed curtains. Furthermore, according tomydevice the strip for securing the lap portion is detachable from the frame so that it can be usedor not, according to whether the curtai ns tobe stretched and dried are hemmed.

Other advantages resulting from my invention will appear to those who are familiar in the art to which it relates;

hat I claim is 1. In an apparatus for stretching and drying curtains, the combination ofa frame, means for securing the main body portion of a hemmed curtain in stretched condition upon said frame, and means for securing the lap of the hem in stretched condition upon said frame.

2. In an apparatus for stretching and drying curtains, the combination of a frame, means for securing the main body portion of a hemmed curtain in stretched condition upon said frame, and means for securing the lap of the hem in stretched con dition upon said frame and in extended relation to the main body portion of the curtain.

In an apparatus for stretching and drying curtains, the combination of a frame, means for securing the main body portion of a hemmed curtain in stretched condition upon said frame, and means detachable from said frame for securing the lap of the hem of the curtain in stretched condition upon said frame.

4-. In an apparatus for stretching and drying curtains, the combination of a frame, means for securing the main body portion of a hemmed curtain in stretched condition upon said frame, a carding strip for securing the lap of the hem of the curtain in stretched condition, and means for detachably mounting said carding strip upon said frame.

5. In an apparatus for stretching and drying curtains, the combination of a frame, said frame having inwardly extending flanges along its side edges, means for securing the main body of a hemmed curtain in stretched condition upon said frame, and means having detachable engagement with said flanges for securing the lap of the hem in stretched condition upon said frame.

6. Apparatus for stretching and drying curtains, comprising parallel side strips adjustable toward and from each other, an end strip adjustable lengthwise of the side strips, and means adapted for single operation to secure both the side and end strips in adjusted position.

7. Apparatus for stretching and drying curtains, comprising a frame, an end strip adjustable along the same, means including a transverse shaft for operating said strip, and side strips slidably mounted upon said shaft.

In testimony whereof I afliX my signature.

ROBERT VALENTINE LYON. 

